Despite Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. offloading over a fifth of its stake in China-based BYD this 2022, the automaker noted that it is confident the legendary investor still loves the company. A BYD executive also highlighted that the China-based automaker does not see Tesla as a competitor.
In recent comments, BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li noted that it’s very “natural” for Buffett to get some returns. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested an initial $230 million in BYD, and since then, it has grown over 1,570%. Even after offloading BYD shares this year, Berkshire’s remaining stake still stands at about $4.5 billion.
“I don’t feel this is any indication he’s abandoned BYD. He loves BYD, he loves management,” Li said, adding that the legendary investor will always be one of the China-based automaker’s biggest supporters.
BYD and Tesla are among China’s top electric vehicle makers, so it was not really surprising that the two companies tend to be compared with each other. So far, BYD has been winning the numbers game, with the automaker selling 113,915 fully electric vehicles in November compared to Tesla’s record-setting 100,291 units.
In her recent statements, however, Li clarified that she does not view Tesla as a direct competitor. She highlighted that Tesla’s success simply means that more people are learning about electric cars. Since BYD is one of China’s most prolific EV makers, Tesla’s success also bodes well for the company. “Our competition, maybe our enemy, is the combustion-engine car,” Li said.
Li further clarified that BYD is looking to establish a vehicle factory in Europe. What’s more, BYD would probably build not just one but probably two of the car factories in the region. She also confirmed that BYD was purchasing its own ships to export its vehicles. “The size of BYD, when we go to any shipping companies, their service cannot really 100% satisfy us,” the executive said.
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